Gautham Menon says he removed certain scenes from Dhruva Natchathiram after watching Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Vikram

Describing Dhruva Natchathiram as a film he would personally enjoy watching in theatres, director Gautham Vasudev Menon highlighted the common theme of covert teams in both his film and Siddharth Anand’s Pathaan. “However, in Pathan, there was more focus on Shah Rukh Khan and not the other characters in the film,” Gautham told Galatta Tamil emphasising that the narrative of Dhruva Natchathiram differs significantly from the SRK film.

Meanwhile, Gautham also mentioned making adjustments to Dhruva Natchathiram after watching Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Vikram. “The manner in which Lokesh introduced the characters played by Santhana Bharathi and Vasanthi had similarities with what we had shot for certain characters in the first edit of Dhruva Natchathiram. Hence, upon viewing Vikram, I chose to exclude those sections from DN. Stuff like that will happen. How long can we keep working on a film? Others will keep catching up and moving on as well.”

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Despite the core script of Dhruva Natchathiram remaining unchanged over the years, Gautham stressed that the narrative remains relevant. “What I wanted to shoot, I have shot,” he added.

Referring to Malayalam actor Vinakayan, who portrays the main antagonist in Dhruva Natchathiram, Gautham remarked, “He delivered an impressive performance in Jailer, which resonated well with the audiences. However, I perceived him differently (than Jailer director Nelson). In a particular scene in Jailer, he adopts a humble posture, with bent knees, begging. I never envisioned him in that way. I envisioned his character in a sophisticated and stylish manner, someone who communicates in a local dialect.”